News

Meristem launches free carbon intensity estimator

Farmers now have a no cost way to learn their carbon intensity (CI) score.

Peter Rousonelos, senior vice president of business development with Meristem Crop Performance, says the CI Estimator is a service to better educate farmers.

“There are people that are charging saying that they’ll get you a carbon intensity store and what we want to do at Meristem was provide the farmer an opportunity to be able to better understand what that carbon intensity score means and what goes into lowering your score,” he says.

He tells Brownfield knowing a farm’s CI score allows a producer numerous opportunities.

“The carbon programs and the Z-45 programs that do exist, or are going to exist in the future, provide a financial opportunity for the farmer as a way to potentially pick up a premium on bushels.”  He says, “There are programs out there that pay for practice changes through the carbon offset programs.”

He says it’s a relatively simple process to figure the score, as well as ways to lower it.

“You can select the county that you farm in. You can select the crop.  It will ask you those other drop-down menus.”  He says, “Put in your current practices. Very easy to navigate.  As you’re doing it, that CI score will change. The goal is to get that CI score as low as possible.”

A link to the free CI Estimator can be found HERE.

AUDIO: Peter Rousonelos – Meristem Crop Performance